The jewelry industry is a highly-competitive and rapidly changing industry. Due to the relative infrequency with which individual consumers purchase jewelry, due to the wide variations in jewelry types, characteristics and values, and due to the relative difficulty in determining some characteristics associated with jewelry, consumers have difficulty in estimating the quality and value of jewelry items and often find the jewelry purchasing process to be a difficult one that involves a fair amount of apprehensiveness.
Traditionally, consumers have relied upon trusted local jewelers to explain the intricacies of jewelry to them when the time came for purchasing jewelry, and have also relied upon those jewelers to provide fair estimations of the quality and value of jewelry items that are being purchased. Nevertheless, as relationships have become more impersonal in the modern economy, consumers over time have also grown accustomed to obtaining independent, third-party verification of various characteristics of their jewelry as a supplement to simply relying upon the statements of their personal jewelers.
In the case of diamonds, for example, several organizations have emerged that are capable of evaluating a given diamond in terms of various diamond characteristics (e.g., cut, clarity, color and carats) and issuing a certificate regarding the diamond's “grade” based upon its characteristics. In some circumstances, the issued certificate also will include an appraisal of the diamond's replacement value or cost, based upon its grade and possibly other information as well. Among the prominent organizations existing for providing such third-party verification of diamonds are the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the American Gem Society Laboratories (AGSL), the World Gemmological Laboratory and the European Gemmological Laboratory (EGL).
Obtaining verification of a piece of jewelry's quality/value in this manner is a fairly complicated and costly procedure. The costs of mailing ajewelry item to and from a third-party evaluator, insuring the jewelry item during the process, and paying for the charges of the third-party evaluation can become large (e.g., the fees of the third-party evaluator can themselves be in the range of $40 to $100 per item). In the case of moderately-expensive to expensive jewelry, such as diamonds worth $5000 or more, this is a cost that many consumers and/or jewelry retailers are willing to bear. However, in the case of less expensive to inexpensive jewelry (e.g., jewelry worth under $5000), such costs are typically too excessive to justify the third party evaluation.
Nevertheless, consumers purchasing less expensive to inexpensive jewelry still often do (or would) desire to have some type of verification or confirmation of the quality/value of jewelry items that they purchase. Some of this has been driven by the emergence of the internet and related e-commerce relating to the sale of jewelry items. Companies such as Blue Nile, Inc. have emerged that allow consumers to purchase jewelry items via the internet without physically visiting a retail outlet or viewing, in person, the jewelry item being purchased before the purchase is made. To allay informational and other concerns that consumers might have about the merchandise being purchased, such internet-based jewelry retailers have offered consumers grading/appraisal certificates regarding the jewelry being purchased.
As this internet jewelry trade has become more established, the desire on the part of consumers for similar grading/appraisal information in other, non-internet jewelry retail venues has increased. Consequently, as department stores and chain stores have expanded their capability to sell jewelry, particularly jewelry in this less expensive to inexpensive category, they have attempted to meet this consumer desire by offering identification certificates for the jewelry being sold and also, in some circumstances, providing an indication of “replacement value” on the certificates.
While appearing to provide valuable information to consumers, these certificates provided by department stores and chain stores are sometimes of limited actual value. Grading of the jewelry as indicated on the certificates may sometimes be performed in an inconsistent or “bulk-quantity” manner with few governing standards. In particular, the grade provided for an individual item of jewelry may not be determined at the time of purchase based upon an evaluation of that specific jewelry item but rather may be based upon a typical or average grade determined a priori for a group of jewelry items of which the specific jewelry item is one example. Indications of “replacement value” also may be determined in a relatively inconsistent or “bulk-quantity” manner that does not necessarily reflect the particular piece of jewelry under consideration. Further, since the grade and replacement value information indicated on such certificates is determined by the individual department store(s) or chain store(s) themselves, it may not always be appropriate to presume that this information is independent and unbiased.
Despite these concerns associated with department and chain store-issued jewelry certificates, consumers nevertheless perceive these certificates to have value, often simply because of the large size and prominent market reputations of particular department stores and store chains. For this reason, independent jewelry stores are coming under increased competitive pressure from department stores and chain stores, particularly with respect to the sale of less-expensive to inexpensive jewelry. Further, consumers who might otherwise benefit from the expertise and individualized customer care offered by independent jewelers are sometimes forgoing these benefits, in order to obtain these perceived benefits associated with department and chain store-issued certificates.
For at least these reasons it would be advantageous if a new system and method could be developed that allowed independent jewelers to provide, in a simple and cost-effective manner, information to consumers regarding the grade, quality and/or value of their jewelry, particularly (although not limited to) jewelry in the less expensive to inexpensive price range. It further would be advantageous if such information could be generated in a consistent, reliable manner and/or in a manner with sufficient safeguards such that, regardless of whether the information was actually determined by an independent third-party, the information properly could be considered to be accurate and unbiased and could be marketed to consumers as such. Also, it would be advantageous if such information could be provided to consumers in a format that buttressed consumers' sense of the value of the information.